Kishtwar in J&K to get full-fledged Airport: Dr Jitendra Singh

Kishtwar
in Jammu and Kashmir will soon get a full-fledged Airport facility with
provision for Aircraft landing and taking off, for which, an upgraded Airstrip
will be constructed in the city. It will
used both by the civilians and defense forces.

This was disclosed here by Union Minister of State Jitendra
Singh, after presiding over a joint meeting of Senior Officers of J&K
State Government and Defence Forces to sort out the nitty-gritties and other
related aspects of the issue.

The meeting was arranged by MoS Defence Dr Subhash Ramrao
Bhamre and also attended by Minister of State (I/C) Transport, Jammu and
Kashmir, Shri Sunil Sharma.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) will be signed between the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and Defence
Authorities in a few days wherein an Airstrip will be constructed and
maintained by Government of Jammu and Kashmir. The extra piece of land required
for construction of this strip will be made available from the land currently
under the possession of the Army. The airstrip that will come up, he said, will
be for joint use, both by the civilian authorities as well as the Indian Army.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, with the development of a
full-fledged Airstrip at Kishtwar, the town will get round-the-year facility
for landing and taking off of Aircraft and even though the operation of
commercial flights may not be possible in the near future, but there will be
certain and definite provisions for landing of State Aircrafts, chartered
flights and operation of emergency flights.

Dr Jitendra Singh appreciated the efforts made by MoS
(Defence) Dr Subhash Ramrao Bhamre in having arranged a joint meeting of the
Army authorities and the civilian administration in order to expedite the
decision and to clear the reservations.